winterizing in pa

[micaaronfl76]

hello all,

i know i am a bit early, but i am looking at what i need to do to winterize here in pa especially my plants. i have two hardy water lillies which are already at the deepest part of the pond - 3 feet. i plan to cut the stems down all the way so i guess i am good on that.

i also have the following other plants
dwarf papyrus
water forget me nots
dwarf umbrella
giant pennywort
4 water hyacinths


for the plants aside from the lillies i was going to put a 50 gallon fishtank in a window that gets sunlight and place the plants in there and fill the tank with water. will that work or is that overkill? also the water hyacinths will they survive the winter if i place them in a aquarium? also when should i remove the plants from the pond itself?

ok on the pond - i plant to get a leaf net this year and i have a floating heater, do i really need to have a bubbler or a winter fountain pump, last year my two shubumkins survived fine with just the heater, this year i have 2 shubumkins and 4 koi.

lastly when should i turn the main pump off and shut the uv light off. also when should i stop feeding the fish. also on the fish food do i really need to feed them a special type of food in the fall or can i continue to feed the hikari gold.

thanks

 

[sissy]

do you have a basement .I move my plants to my basement .You need wheat germ food spring and fall as you don't want dead fish .I use window screening on my pond little frog and bird legs don't get tangled in it and I get the kind with a uv protector .You don't need a pump in winter but for safety sake I use one .I like to keep the water moving .Some say you are making the water temp at the bottom of your pond colder and you do .I just use one connected to my home made bubbler idea



usually that hose is under the water i just brought it up to show connection from hose to elbow

 

[micaaronfl76]

sissy i do have a basement i figured these plants still needed light to survive, could i put the fishtank in the basement- add water and they will be good?

 

[sissy]

You could get a grow light .I have windows in my basement so don't need it .If you can get light bulb holders it is cheaper just to buy the grow bulbs .They are not fussy in the winter .Before i put them in there i clean them and cut all dead matter off .I make sure they are bug free and since i don't want to go down and water them every day I have some concrete mixing tubs I put water in and stand the plants up in the water .I usually keep them in 6 inches of water .You could use an end of the year kiddie swimming pool also or like my neighbor does an old claw foot bath tub

 

[sissy]

I found out by this past winter water hyacinths do not like light on there roots and I use an aerator to keep water moving .I keep them in a concrete mixing tub and the aerator i got at petco /4 ports airline included .It was the petco brand and i have had it for over 2 years now less than 30 dollars for the whole thing

 

[addy1]

My pennywort and forget me nots do fine being left outside. We are zone 6b or so. The bog freezes hard and they come back as soon as it begins to warm.

 

[micaaronfl76]

interesting for the pennywort and forget me nots do u have to put them at a certain depth? if i do not have to remove them from the pond that leaves only the cypress and umbrella does anyone have suggestions for them?

i was also thinking about the water hyacinths i have a turtle with a uv light, maybe i can stick a few in his take during the winter, i am sure though he might pick at the plants he is a red ear slider.

 

[addy1]

the forgetmenots are right on the surface of the bog. The pennywort just floated around, looked dead and came right back. Some was frozen in ice.

 

[sissy]

we had a mild winter and plants did great but the winter before not so good .I lost a few of my elephant ears and one of my cherry trees .This past winter was a breeze compared .Here we really don't get much bad weather and the first couple of winters we had some 60 and 70 degree days in the middle of winter .

 

[addy1]

both the forgetmenot and pennywort survived the winter before, our pond had 8 inches of ice on it.

 

[micaaronfl76]

the dwarf umbrella, are they tropical or perrenial

 

[addy1]

Tropical as far as I know, I know they won't live here over winter, outside.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Get hearty sedges for colder zones like yellow flag iris, cattails, rushes, and grasses. These plants begin growing in very early spring, before the algae gets out of control. Tropicals only start growing good when the water is warm, like June, for our colder zones. You can't rely on tropicals to clean the pond when the water is still ice cold. I got rid of most of my tropicals years ago and now have mostly just hearty pond plants. The unbrella palm can be treated as a house plant in a puddle of water, but bring in water plants can sometimes mean bring in bugs too. Make life easy, just get hearty pond plants that you can just leave and freeze, you will end up with a better looking plant in the long run. Here's some pictures of my hearty pond plants that freeze every year. (Before in early March and after now in May) Spring and summer is too short in the northern parts, why wait for tropicals when you can have this instead in early spring! Plant now for next year!

 

[j.w]

I like your thinking Colleen...........makes perfectly good sense to me!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Hey there J.W, what's that you got now, weather report live? Cool...
Never had much luck with trying to keep the floating water hyacinth over the winter, tried in house and greenhouse, found the water temp and proper sun, key to keeping them alive over winter. My green house I keep slightly above freezing and sometimes the greenhouse can get even colder, the floaters never made it past Christmas for me.